Thanks to the Nothing team for the chance to be one of the first to try the Phone (4a) through the Community Review Program.
Nothing’s Q1 ‘26 lineup — Phone (4a), (4a) Pro and Headphone (a) — kicks things off in a loud, colourful way. No flagship this time, but the (a) series rarely misses… and this might be their best one yet!
📱 Design & Feel
The (4a) comes in an array of colours - white, black, pink and blue - and I have been using the uniform looking white version. If I had to pick one as my favourite, it probably would be this one just because it gives off the most iconic, Nothing design aesthetic. Design-wise, it’s a nice evolution. You can see hints of the (3a), mixed with cues from the Phone (3), landing somewhere between futuristic and retro. The 6.78” AMOLED display is bright, sharp, and had no issues outdoors.
It’s lighter than the Phone (3), which comes with expected trade-offs — mainly the plastic build. That’s fair at this price point. My biggest gripe? Button placement. I’ve done a side-by-side below against the Phone (3) for reference.
The Essential Key has moved higher up on the left side. I get why (fewer accidental presses), but it’s now harder to reach one-handed, so I actually use it less. Personally, I’d have kept it on the right, just slightly higher. That said, I’m probably in the minority here.
A few design highlights worth mentioning:
- The Glyph has now evolved into a Glyph Bar
- The triple camera set up on the rear is positioned nicely to prevent much rocking
- The design on the back feels very Nothing and stands out
📸 Cameras
Whilst not a heavy camera user, I did want to push myself a little more with this device seeing as Nothing have packed in a very good 50MP Main, 50MP Periscope, an 8MP Ultrawide and a respectable 32MP front facing set up. The cameras are also supported with some nice upgrades, like Truelens Engine 4, Ultra XDR, and Motion Photos.
I won’t pretend to understand all the tech, but what matters is it takes really solid everyday photos. I took a variety of shots in different conditions, including some selfies in different lighting, and was pleasantly surprised with the results. I’ve shared a few below:
Where it falls short is indoor photography, especially when switching between 1x and 3.5x. In most cases I would see changes in the colours and saturation, as well as a loss of details and textures. It’s reassuring to know that the team are working on camera improvements as we speak, so I’m hoping these get ironed out in the near future.
The selfie camera does a solid job overall, though exposure can vary depending on lighting. For daily use, it’s more than fine.
The only other thing I’d mention about the (4a) camera, is that whilst it is capable of up to 70x zoom, I found that anything after 20x just became very blurry and completely lost any details in the image. Another thing to note, is that Macro Mode is not an option you can just switch to manually, but automatically comes on once you switch to 3.5x or higher. I would’ve preferred to have the option to have a seperate Macro Mode setting from the selection, rather than it having to automatically come on and in some instances, not focus properly or mess up the photos at these higher focal lengths.
🔋 Everyday Use & Battery Life
With Nothing OS 4.1, the experience feels very optimised and probably Nothing’s best OS experience to date. To find out all about the latest updates, head to this thread. Ultimately, the experience was very smooth, animations were silky, I haven’t experienced lag or crashes and overall processing of images felt faster than previous devices.
One of the newest things I appreciated are the new Gallery features, including the watermarks. There are many to chose from, but the ability to add them after a photo has been taken is something we’ve been missing for a while.
Battery life is a big win:
Easily a full day with 30–40% left
Minimal drain overnight (2–3%)
Moderate users: day and a bit
Heavy users: comfortably a full day
💭 Final Thoughts
Nothing now has a wide range of mid-range devices, and I would even go as far as saying that the (3a) range still holds up very well in today’s market - the (3a) Pro still remains one of my favourite devices.
At £349, the Nothing Phone (4a) feels like a very good purchase and entry point for those not already appointed with Nothing. With a variety of colours now available, it definitely feels like there is now something for everyone, but who is the device for exactly?
With a continued focus on individuality, those looking for a new device but want to stand out from the crowd should consider this phone. Whether you’re already part of Nothing OS or not, there are enough features here to keep you happy.
If you’re already rocking the latest flagship device, and top end specs mean more to you than anything else then you might consider skipping this, unless you want to add another iconic design to your collection.
